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Miles and Points Plans
This is the time of year where many in our points and travel hobby are looking back on the past one and prognosticating on the next. I shared my wishes for the coming year just a few weeks ago. But at this point, I’m more interested in things I can control, not so much bold predictions. I’m making a few tweaks this year. Here are my miles and points plans for 2024 and why I’m excited about them.
Stacking Up Certs
My, how things have changed from a few years ago. I previously bemoaned the prison of having too many hotel free night certificates. Since then, though, I’ve gradually started collecting more. Now, I’m at the point where I shamelessly hoard them. But we’re conscientiously using them, too – none have expired in recent years, and we didn’t force ourselves into traveling just to use them. Given our affinity to collect FNC’s and relatively tame travel plans for the year, I’m confident we’ll book the majority of our hotel nights with certs, not points.
So where are we focusing? I’ll start with Hilton certs, what I consider to be the most valuable ones out there. They’re good pretty much everywhere, with relatively few exclusions. I’m adding more Marriott free night awards, as well, particularly at the 50k level. I confidently do so knowing that I’ve gotten extremely good return on those ones with a bit of flexibility and topping off with points. We’re back with the Chase IHG Premier cards, and the wife and I taking advantage of their certs (easily stackable with points) is a no-brainer.
Balance
In terms of scaling credit card spend, I’m confident this will be the year of (more) balance. Certain years in the not-too-distant past were heavily weighted toward online plays, others revolved around more on the street stuff. Right now, I’m striking a somewhat even balance of the two in terms of my time resources, while online has the edge in the spend volume department. While plays come, go, and change, and we must be willing to adapt, I’ll be intentional on keeping a balance between “couch” and “street.” A healthy bit of both keeps me engaged and fulfilled, but without things getting out of hand.
A New Wells Fargo Card
I’ll apply for a new Wells Fargo card this year, one compatible with their soon-to-be-transferrable points currency. It’ll probably be the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card, unless the Beyond card turns out to be the killer-turbo-belchfire product. We still don’t know the transfer partners, but I’m confident something will be useful for the wife and I there. Sometimes I don’t like too many options, but another transferrable points option is generally a good thing. I’m excited to see what options this currency opens, even if they’re not jaw-dropping.
Amex Card Turnover
Things have been rough with Amex lately – the wife and I have bumped into Amex’s new family rule and pop-ups, among other things. And most all of us in the hobby have been in a NLL Amex card desert lately. Beyond what Amex can do to us, though, I’m confident in our plans to quickly turn over Amex cards, probably more often than ever. Even in this new Amex landscape, so much can still be done with them. I’m enjoying the challenge of looking at Amex a different way and unlocking previously unrealized value.
I’m Not Entering An Office Supply Store*
I have zero plans to enter a brick and mortar office supply store to scale spending. I’ll look elsewhere to satisfy that requirement. What’s with that asterisk, though? The Amex Business Gold’s flexible business credit of $20 monthly is just enough for me to swing by for random third party gift cards. I’ve exclusively picked up three Disney gift cards each month so far, and I don’t expect that to change.
Conclusion
I’m most confidently marching into 2024 with these points and miles plans. A few others are coming together and I expect them to fall into place in the coming weeks. Most importantly, they are compatible – with each other, and with my overall goals. So, dear reader, I encourage you to focus more on your goals in the new year and allow them to direct your strategies for earning and redeeming rewards currencies. What are your points and miles plans this year?
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Wells needs a 10x hotel portal.
Benjy, would love to know more about how your going to ramp up spending without going into office supply stores? You teased me in your article. Thanks